This invention relates generally to packages, and more particularly to boxes or cartons which are arranged to hold products, such as granular, powdery, flaked products of the free-flowing type or of bulk commodities, and which once opened are arranged to enable the contents to be readily poured therefrom via a pour-spout, and then to be re-closed to keep the contents fresh, until the package is again reopened.
Boxes or cartons for the storage and dispensing of dry cereals and other free-flowing particulate materials have typically been in the form of a paperboard or cardboard outer carton and a product-containing liner (e.g., waxed glassine paper or high-density polyethylene). In order to reseal the remaining contents in the package after opening the liner must be refolded over itself or otherwise sealed (e.g., by use of tape, a clip, a "twist-tie," etc.). Frequently, the user will not properly refold or otherwise close the liner after use, or the liner may be ripped or otherwise damaged during re-folding so as to destroy the integrity thereof. Plastic resin-based liners, while less prone to accidental tearing, which could compromise their ability to retain the freshness of the product, never the less frequently exhibit some structural "memory," so that the liner tends to resist remaining folded, e.g., it tends to unfold or unroll.
To overcome the disadvantages of lined paperboard cartons, so-called "liner-less" cartons have been developed. Liner-less cartons frequently include an openable pouring spout at the top panel of the carton or on a side or end panel. The spout is formed or opened by tearing a portion of the panel. Some spouts are arranged to be re-closed after dispensing a portion of the product therethrough. For example, some cartons provide a closure tab or "tuck-in" type of construction which engages or tucks below other carton wall components. Unfortunately this type of liner-less carton construction frequently does not provide the necessary sealing of the product remaining within the carton. Furthermore, liner-less cartons which incorporate an easily opening and reclosable pouring spout are frequently complex in construction and expensive to manufacture, e.g., they incorporate complex scoring and weakening line patterns and/or necessitate the utilization of excess amounts of paperboard or carton stock to form the package. Examples of boxes/cartons including tucked-in spouts are found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,640,446 (Grieve) and U.S. Pat. No. 2,933,230 (Yezek).
Packages including "flip-open" reclosable spouts have also been disclosed in the patent literature. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,956,865 (Schermund), U.S. Pat. No. 4,421,236 (Lowe); U.S. Pat. No. 4,921,104 (Holmes); U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,780 (Foote et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,067,615 (Davitian); and U.S. Pat. No. 5,816,486 (Wein). Such packages are also complex in construction. Furthermore, when a prior art carton's "flip-open" pour spout is reclosed it may not provide a sufficient seal for the remaining product contained in the package to effectively extend the product's pantry shelf-life.
Other prior art cartons/boxes having reclosable pouring spouts have been disclosed in the patent literature, such as, U.S. Pat. No. 3,995,806 (McSherry); U.S. Pat. No. 4,101,051 (Reil); U.S. Pat. No. 4,464,156 (Holmstrom); U.S. Pat. No. 4,770,325 (Gordon et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 4,930,683 (Farber); U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,542 (Roccaforte); U.S. Pat. No. 5,067,613 (Bryan); U.S. Pat. No. 5,333,781 (Roccaforte); U.S. Pat. No. 5,344,066 (Fogle); U.S. Pat. No. 5,680,986 (Botterman); and U.S. Pat. No. 5,685,479 (Weber-Caspers). However, such prior art packages also suffer from one or more of the following disadvantages, e.g., inability to be stacked (due to a non-planar, e.g., gabled, top wall construction), complexity of construction, cost of manufacture, difficulty of use (e.g., opening and reclosing), and the inability to be opened and re-closed numerous times while isolating the contents of the package from the ambient atmosphere to effectively extend the pantry shelf life of the contents.